November 14, 2008

With the No. 77 team currently outside of the top-35 in the 2008 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points standings, Hornish was required to qualify for Sunday’s race on time. He posted a fast lap time of 32.072 seconds at a speed of 168.371 miles per hour, but the effort was not strong enough to secure a starting position for the Mobil 1 team.

“We were just a great deal tighter than what we were in practice,” said Hornish. “As soon as I touched the throttle the car started turning up the track and ended up scuffing the wall a little bit. It’s unfortunate, but the guys worked real hard on the Mobil 1 Dodge all year and put a lot of effort into it. This is not the result today that we needed, obviously.”

Coverage of the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway will air live on the ABC television network and MRN Radio on Sunday, November 16 beginning at 3 p.m. ET.